YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Changelly, the non-custodial instant cryptocurrency exchange, faces fresh accusations of scam operating. According to one user who narrated his unfortunate experience on Reddit, the exchange has withheld $5,000 of his funds since August 2023. His multiple efforts to retrieve his hard-earned money have yielded no results.
Incidentally, this is not the first time Changelly has faced scam allegations by different users. A quick search on the web brings up several similar instances when users have allegedly lost funds while using the exchange.
Investor sees his crypto wallet blacklisted
In August 2023, the investor, Consistent-Mistake93 on Reddit, used the crypto exchange Changelly through the Ledger Live interface to transfer his funds. As he later realized, this very simple transaction would cost him a big chunk of his funds.
Shortly after initiating a transaction, Changelly requested KYC and AML documentation. Since this is a standard process in most major exchanges, the investor gladly complied and provided the documents. Despite accepting the KYC documents, Changelly delayed the AML process and allegedly failed to maintain a proper line of communication with the customer.
As the situation unfolded, the now-frustrated investor discovered that the problem lay elsewhere. They were surprised to learn that their former boss had been sued by an investor of the company he previously worked for. This legal action led to financial disputes involving several of the boss’s investments.
The ensuing legal turmoil culminated in the blacklisting of several crypto addresses associated with the company.
Since the said firm worked transparently, it had made all cryptocurrency wallets involved in transactions public. As a result, the wallet through which this Changelly customer received his remuneration (in crypto), also appeared on the blacklist.
Under this ensuing mayhem, various crypto exchanges also blacklisted his crypto wallet. This led to further complications for the investor.
Why is Changelly facing scam allegations?
If the problem lay with a legal case involving the investor’s former company, why is he blaming Changelly for the scam, you would ask.
The issue lies in the fact that other exchanges removed their crypto wallet address from the blacklist. However, despite submitting all proof that the address is his and does not belong to the sued company, Changelly failed to do the same.
“Upon providing my documentation to every exchange except Changelly my address was deemed mine and I received an APOLOGY. Changelly on the other hand did not give a single f**k,”
he writes.
The issue took an interesting turn when the company and the investor settled. However, even then, Changelly withholds the $5,000 without issuing updates or a resolution.
Changelly scam allegations have been plenty over the years. Several threads on sites like Bitcointalk, Quora, and Reddit narrate the struggles of users to communicate with the exchange after missing funds.
However, while such negative reviews exist, they do not form a majority. Most major websites classify Changelly as a safe platform.
If the story is true, one cannot rule out that the missing $5,000 may have something to do with the investor and not the exchange. Whether it is a FUD or a real story, Changelly is currently accused of being a scam.